Ethos Public Relations Manchester

School Governance Needs Serious Review

by Debbie

A recent report entitled Governing Our Schools suggests that people are put off from becoming school governors due to complex and demanding work comes as no surprise.

I have been a school governor at Manchester primary school for seven years , including Chair for three years and the role as described by the local authority as a 'critical friend' is nowhere near the reality. An effective school governor must be prepared to give up a considerable amount of their time and they must be reasonably intelligent in order to fully understand the reams of paperwork that is regularly churned out from national and local bodies.

However, most importantly governors must recognise that they have considerable legal obligations under health and safety legislation and employment legislation. It is ridiculous to hold a volunteer group accountable for many of these issues, given there is a team of paid qualified staff on the school premises, in addition to the numerous highly paid (and often over paid) teams of civil servants at both local and national level. The system is seriously flawed and needs urgent review.

Finally, unless you are unemployed or retired you need to work for an employer who shares your commitment to 'putting something back into society'. Legally governors are allowed a reasonable time off work (but pay is at the discretion of the employer); I am fortunate to work for an organisation that has a social conscience - otherwise I would not be able to fulfil my governor duties. Sadly there are not too many companies like Ethos public relations that are willing to do this. This is another reason why schools have difficulty filling governor vacancies and that governors do not last long - or even worse have their name on the Governing Body but can never take time off work to attend any meetings

Posted at 10:53am on 20^th October 2008